Something Marvelous

Thinking about:

Mon, 20 May 2013 00:16:58 -0400

getting eloped permanent resident status in the EU by the fall extended vacation solo traveling...

smooth: More 2011 International Photography Award Winners - My...

Sun, 19 May 2013 17:04:35 -0400

smooth:

More 2011 International Photography Award Winners - My Modern Metropolis

Things I'd rather spend money on than on my 2 weddings

Tue, 14 May 2013 22:55:35 -0400

-a 4 month country-hopping vacation -real estate in nyc (to lease out) -flying lessons & a...

"All these soft, warm nights going to waste when I ought to be lying in your arms under the moon- the..."

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 22:01:40 -0400

“All these soft, warm nights going to waste when I ought to be lying in your arms under the...

Széchenyi Thermal Bath, Budapest, Hungary NYC was a beaut today...

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 21:35:19 -0400

Széchenyi Thermal Bath, Budapest, Hungary

NYC was a beaut today but GOD I miss this place!

My boyfriend put a ring on it. I’m engaged!

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 22:17:02 -0400

My boyfriend put a ring on it. I’m engaged!

Chiharu Shiota - A Room of Memory (2009)

Wed, 20 Mar 2013 00:20:07 -0400

Chiharu Shiota - A Room of Memory (2009)

nedhepburn: There’s a line in The Jerk that I’ve always loved....

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 22:55:17 -0500

nedhepburn:

There’s a line in The Jerk that I’ve always loved. The owner of the gas station that Navin works at writes to him on a postcard:

“Don’t be a putz. See the world. Me you’ve seen already.”

For whatever reason, that’s always stuck. I love it.

I’d taken a cab to Liam’s party because it was freezing and they’d shut down the G train. They do that every once in a while without telling you. They just shut down the train for a day while they fix something. I met a friend at a bar and me and him shot the shit while we waited for the party to warm up – after all – you don’t want to be the first person at the party. You ideally want to show up right when it get’s good and leave when it starts to tail off. That’s about a 30 minute window of partying. Here I am instilling some knowledge to you kids out there. Another thing: the best parties happen in small rooms. Trust me on that.

Because this party was in a tiny room. And it was quite something. And I’d considered not going and not making the effort because it would have been easier not to go – it would have been easier not to have schlepped all the way to the LES. But this party was in a tiny room, the beer was good, and it was a real highlight of the year so far, for whatever reason. Maybe because I hadn’t expected anything. Maybe because I made the effort to go down there and stand in a room full of people I didn’t know.

The worst part about “effort” is the reward system. If you don’t make any effort, you win immediately. Hear me out on this. You get the immediate satisfaction of not going anywhere, staying put, and having nothing change. That, at times, like after a war, familial death, or particularly large starchy meal, can be a good thing. But if you MAKE the effort and actually do something you can win exponentially more in the long run.

My friend had to leave and when he left I got a text from another friend, a friend I didn’t know that well, and she said “If you’re in the LES, I can be there in 20 minutes”.

It was 9:30 and I thought about going home, having an early night, and saying “fuck it”. I really did. I was alone at the bar like an invalid that had escaped from a hospice, staring into a glowing rectangle in my hand, wondering which direction I should take. There was the relative comfort, which I knew, of going home and firin’ up the ol’ Netflix and the honey bear bong. Easy.

Or there was this whole other thing: hanging out with new people, putting myself into a situation I was uncomfortable with, where the reward wasn’t visible. Do I go with the washer and dryer set or do I go for what’s behind Door #3? I had a decision to make. Joe Strummer, or possibly Socrates, put it best: Should I stay or should I go?

I stayed. The group of us stayed until 1am, actually. I got up and did kareoke, The Pretenders “Brass In Pocket” - if you really want to know. While it is certainly uncouth to express nostalgia for the recent past: it was a lot of unexpected fun.

I believe you can go through life knowing exactly what your reward system is going to be, or you can sail the uncharted waters of the unknown and have the possibility of an infinitely better time. I think 98% of situational depression comes from being frustrated with not having enough options. So when life gives you them, even if it’s just for a night, even if it’s a simple “Hey should I maybe stay at the bar for another 20 minutes so I can do kareoke with staggeringly beautiful and conscience-warpingly cool women” – maybe you should take those options and run with them. Don’t be a putz. See the world.

The concept of saying “yes” to more things has taken me 28 years to understand. I think the kids call it “YOLO”. They’re right. You only live once. So fucking make the most of it. Sometimes the kids are right.

Don’t be a putz. See the world. Me you’ve seen already.

The world is calling… listen to it.

"If no woman in your life has ever talked to you about how she lives her life with an undercurrent of..."

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 23:12:43 -0500

“If no woman in your life has ever talked to you about how she lives her life with an...

During Hoxha’s 40 year totalitarian regime, over 700,00 of...

Tue, 26 Feb 2013 00:36:00 -0500

During Hoxha’s 40 year totalitarian regime, over 700,00 of these bunkers were built to protect Albanians against foreign invasion. Still a ubiquitous sight, there are about 24 bunkers per square kilometer but these bunkers are now typically used as love shacks for young Albanians. It all goes full circle.

Choreographed and danced by Matt Luck and Emma Portner Music...

Mon, 25 Feb 2013 23:00:50 -0500

Choreographed and danced by Matt Luck and Emma Portner
Music by Ben Howard and Yael Naim
Filmed by Christian Beasley
Edited by Matt Luck
Filmed at Live Arts studio

Scenes from Chasing Ice

Sun, 24 Feb 2013 23:25:46 -0500

Scenes from Chasing Ice

Ben Howard - Dancing In The Dark [Bruce Springsteen cover]

Wed, 20 Feb 2013 21:22:28 -0500

Ben Howard - Dancing In The Dark [Bruce Springsteen cover]

musingsinfemininity: Marc Jacobs, Fall 2013 I need them all.

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 20:02:06 -0500

musingsinfemininity:

Marc Jacobs, Fall 2013

I need them all.

DIY Travel-Inspired Invites: Holly & Sean | i do it...

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 00:07:56 -0500

DIY Travel-Inspired Invites: Holly & Sean | i do it yourself™

I’m going to need a lot of maps I suppose…

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 23:06:26 -0500

thepianofarm: I never laughed so loud. I never laughed so...

Wed, 13 Feb 2013 00:29:57 -0500

thepianofarm:

I never laughed so loud. I never laughed so loud.

•

She tells me she loves me. As big as Texas.

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All the stars darling. All the stars is what you give me.

•

My friends make my heart a beautiful machine. Make it easy to love another person. Every one of us lambs drinking hungrily, regardless of whether there is someone there to teach us how to. How hungrily we hunger, how soft our softness is.

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Oh easy feet. How easy you make it for me to dance. All the song in your body, all the music in your heart plays on repeat when I walk this world. Hold me in your little hands and don’t ever set me down.

•

All us the youngest man of America. All us the prettiest girl in Texas. The smartest flower. How perfect we must be that the universe could only make one of each of our hearts. Do you have a notion of how priceless you are? Hyperbole is not in me. My tongue tells stories but every one of them is true. Hyperbole is not in me. You are all the moons. And I swear, your mother, whether she loves you or not, is all the moons too. All the shoes broken and falling sing of you moving through space and time.

•

In the white light your silhouette becomes a star. All us the biggest red. All us the fasting moving wish. All of us the world speaks out loud.

Obsessed with Alicia’s Engagment Photos!! YA LOOK GORGEOUS...

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 23:07:54 -0500

Obsessed with Alicia’s Engagment Photos!! YA LOOK GORGEOUS (and so do those mountains) !

looking at rings is killing me and finding a dress will be even...

Mon, 21 Jan 2013 23:47:52 -0500

looking at rings is killing me and finding a dress will be even worse but I just want this and the calla lilies and to be done with it all.

velvet-revolution: Wenceslas Square during metro...

Sun, 20 Jan 2013 11:49:59 -0500

velvet-revolution:

Wenceslas Square during metro construction

so cool!